The Boy
by Ziggy Sternenstaub
Summary: Just before the events of Attack of the Clones, Surpreme Chancellor Palpatine recieves an unexpectedly enlightening visit from Anakin Skywalker.


I am unabashedly evil! For I have done what I hate in others: started a new story while in the middle ofanother one. Granted, this story is a self contained one, not a multi-parter. There will, however, be sequels. Yes, sequels, I say! My love of Star Wars had been furiously reawakened and of this particular, er, character combination. It's one I've loved for years, actually did write a few stories years ago but lost them. There are very few authors indeed that pursure this avenue, but hopefuly more will appear in the future.

Anyway, comments are always wildly desired, as well as attempts to locate impossibly obscure, slightly mutated song lyric references. There's only one in this one.

Now fly, my pretties, fly!

The Boy

By Ziggy Sternenstaub

It was the boy again. Chancellor Palpatine did not need to look up from his datapad and the many tedious reports awaiting his inspection to know that it was the boy. There was a brief discussion outside of his office, the particulars of which he could not hear but were undoubtedly to the effect that the Surpreme Chancellor was a very busy man and did not have time to hear the many woes of a mere Padawan several times a week. Anakin Skywalker's low, irritated response was surely a firm reminder that said Chancellor had always made time and exception for him before, so why should it not be the case today as well?

Palpatine let them argue, his still-sharp eyes perusing the particulars of Alderaanian nerf meat exports in competition with the Bastialian system's supply of rindfleish beasts. The Bastlians had been gaining the advantage in the culinary race as of the last several years. Nerf, though widely consumed in the Alderaanian system and several neighbouring systems, was more of a delicacy and therefore more expensive. Rindfleish was cheaper and more common, but when properly cut or marinated, apparently assumed a delightfully palatable taste. Palpatine, a long term nerf fan, reminded himself to try the competition, but honestly didn't expect much. That aspect of the report was mere background, however, as the Alderaanians were petitioning a bill requesting limiting how low marketers were able to drop prices on more available commodities. The Bastalians were all but smothering the nerf market in the Alderaanian system with their space-dust cheap meat, while the Alderaanians were attempting to expand their nerf operations further into the Core but due to their now publicly spurned product were unable to fund it. It was of course a circular problem leading to their current outrageous bill, a bill which would subsequently raise cries of outrage from systems everywhere about the smothering of free trade and the oppression of capitalism through subversive socialist governments such as Alderaan's.

Palpatine smiled as he finished reading. For every galaxy shaking issue brought up in the Senate, there were hundreds of these petty, idiotic requests. The fact of the matter was that the galaxy was run more on petty, idiotic requests than it encountered history-altering landmarks. Of course, history altering landmarks certainly weren't out of the question, either. . . The Chancellor's eyes were draw inexorably to desk drawer containing the ever-present data pad altering him on updates concerning the Military Creation Act. He closed his eyes briefly, savouring the implications contained in that data pad. He longed to reach out with the Force and sample the future possibilities, but knew he could not risk it with a Jedi just outside of his door, particularly one so powerful as Skywalker. As rash as the boy was, he was both intelligent and observant, and could not fail to pinpoint any draw on the Force in such close range.

Speaking of the boy, it certainly must have been an urgent weight on his ever-troubled mind keeping him outside of Palpatine's door. Palpatine suspected that hadhe been anywhere else, the boy would have simply burst in past the guards long ago. Due to not a small bit of careful nurturing on Palpatine's part, however, the young Jedi had developed a great respect for the Chancellor and undoubtedly wished to avoid offending him by making such presumptions in his presence. The thought brought a pleased little lilt to Palpatine's lips and he decided to reward the boy for his tenacity.

Hitting the com on his chair, Palpatine spoke quietly but firmly. "Let him in."

There was pause and then the slightly doubtful answer. "You Excellency?"

"Let Skywalker in. I am currently unoccupied."

To his credit, the guard hesitated no longer. "Of course, Excellency."

The boy burst into the office in an impatient, put-upon rush. His hair was shorn so short that it was perfectly incapable of rumpling in his irritation, but Palpatine imagined that had it been long, it would have been sticking out wildly in all directions, matching on some poetic level the bright light in Skywalker's blue eyes. The Chosen One looked anything but a model Jedi, overcome with haste and indignation. This was just the way that he liked Skywalker, oblivious to the fact that he was violating the edicts of the Jedi Order with his mere existence. Over the past ten years, Skywalker's little talks with the Chancellor had become something of a constant in Palpatine's often overcrowded schedule. He'd watched this human being grow up from a talented, precocious little boy to the smart but rash young man that was currently recovering his composure with a slight blush, as if suddenly remembering such a thing called dignity.

Palpatine smiled in kindly amusement. Anakin tried so hard to be on his best behaviour with the Chancellor, attempting to give something in return to the ego-stroking that Palpatine so often granted him. It was necessary, but hardly unusual for the seasoned politician. The best method to encourage others to listen to one was to say what they wanted to hear. Quite frankly, however, not all of the advice that he gave the boy was self-serving. It was perhaps not what the Jedi Order wanted Skywalker to hear, but much of it was useful and Palpatine did not doubt that he was one of the significant influences which had helped the boy develop into what he was today.

Which definitely meant that he had been saying things the Jedi Order would not have wanted Skywalker to hear, the politician concluded his train of thought with not a small bit of amusement.

"Chancellor," Anakin greeted him, now completely composed. He gave a little bow.

"Anakin. Please have a seat. I am sorry that I didn't allow you in a moment earlier, but I was surveying a report and only just noticed that the guards were giving you a bit of trouble."

Skywalker seated his unexpectedly tall form. He'd been a very small child, and the Chancellor certainly had not expected him to reach such an immense height. He remember with some amusement the years in which he'd wondered if Skywalker would ever stop growing, the days that the teenaged Anakin had groaned with the small agonies of his demandingly expanding muscles and bones. The boy had not yet completely settled into his dignity of form; he still seemed very much an awkward colt who, while able to perfectly control his own movements, was never able to completely overcome his surprise with his own body. Skywalker had just gone through what was probably his last growth spurt the year before, Palpatine recalled.

"That's alright, Chancellor. I didn't mind waiting outside for a bit. It's probably for the better, anyway."

Palpatine lifted his eyebrows inquisitively. "Whatever do you mean, my boy?"

Anakin grinned mischievously. "It gave me the chance the work off a bit of frustration, arguing with the guards. I wouldn't want to talk to you all worked up like I was. I mean—I wasn't trying **that** hard to get past them."

Palpatine returned the grin conspiratorially. He knew Anakin quite well, but sometimes the boy still surprised him. "Clever, Anakin. Whatever was it that's upset you so much, though?"

Anakin sighed, something of a melancholy descending upon him. Another one of those odd moods the boy seemed so inclined to, the instant switch between playfulness and dramatic depression. Palpatine resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Skywalker should have been an actor, not a Jedi. His expressive talents would certainly have been more appreciated in that field of work.

"Well, my boy?"

"It's just. . .it's just so frustrating!" Anakin groaned miserably, seemingly enjoying watching his own feet more than looking at his companion.

It was going to be like that, was it? One of those days where the Padawan's every word needed to dragged out of him until it all finally came bursting forthin an awkward, self absorbed rush. Palpatine shifted in his chair, settling in for the long haul.

"What is it that's frustrating you?"

"Oh, I don't know," Skywalker mumbled, glancing up awkwardly and grimacing. "Just. . .things."

Palpatine chuckled. "Things, my boy, does not tell me a great deal."

Anakin sighed and nodded in defeat before responding. "I know, sir, but it's very difficult to speak about. I suppose I'm just straining a bit at the seams. I mean, when I was a little boy, becoming a Jedi seemed the most wonderful thing in the world, but no one ever told me that it meant precluding all human feeling from becoming a part of my life. I mean, even as a slave I was allowed to express more than I can as Jedi. What's the point of having all of this power if I can't enjoy it?"

Palpatine watched Anakin closely, cursing his inability to probe the boy with the Force. He was pleased with the Padawan's words, but somehow had the feeling that this was not entirely the point of Anakin's visit. It seemed to be a precursor to whatever it was that was currently troubling the boy, but there was no way that politician could scout out that source other than drawing on his considerable patience and encouraging Anakin to speak with him. Palpatine silently and with some irony thanked the Force that the Force alone was not his only management tool. He was a skilled reader and manipulator of emotions, both human and inhuman, and had a great deal of experience in interpreting body language and expression, especially this Jedi's. Anakin was staring off into the distance, outside of the window behind Palpatine's shoulder, his blue eyes seeming altogether tormented.

"I cannot tell you, Anakin, not being a Jedi myself. I only know that a Jedi's purpose in life is to serve. I have always been informed that a Jedi is not meant to enjoy their power, per say, but to use it for the good of others."

Anakin's frustration only seemed to grow, but from the expression on his face it was now inadvertently directed at Palpatine himself. It clearly spelled out, in a fashion typical to teenagers of all species, everywhere: You just don't **get it!**

"I know that, sir. What I mean is, what's the whole point of being here and fulfilling my dream to be a Jedi if I can't live my life?"

Palpatine sighed in a regretful, knowing fashion. "We must all make sacrifices, Anakin. You know this."

"Yes, but. . ." the boy trailed off, again not looking at Palpatine.

"This isn't just a philosophical discussion on the merits of the Jedi Code, is it, my boy?" The Chancellor prompted unobtrusively.

Anakin shook his head, closing his eyes briefly and letting his eyelashes, darker than the rest of his hair, rest briefly on his cheeks. He seemed to be drawing strength, immersing himself in the source of his power. The Chancellor felt the deep spring of the Force open widely for this one, as effortless as water over a fall. Anakin drew breath in time with the pulsing of the Force and the Chancellor shivered, disturbed for a brief moment without knowing why. A curl of elation crept through him as Anakin pulled more deeply, seeming to need all the strength he could find. When he opened his eyes again, they were calm and as blue as the oceans of Mon Calamari.

"No, it's not just philosophical. I. . ." he hesitated again before letting it all come out in a rush. "Obi-Wan told me that Senator Amidala is coming to personally oppose the Military Creation Act! She's coming here, Chancellor! I, well, I don't think there's a day that I haven't thought of her in the past ten years. I know it seems silly, but I love her."

Palpatine's eyebrows went up again at that. It was hardly unexpected for someone of Anakin's volatile emotional capacity, and sometimes it seemed as though hardly a day had gone by in which Anakin had not spoken of Naboo's former queen. Still, to say that he loved a girl he'd met as a nine-year-old boy and hadn't seen in ten more years of time seemed a bit extreme, even for Anakin.

Skywalker seemed to anticipate this argument, because he did not give Palpatine any time to make a response. "I know it's ridiculous, but I also know what I'm talking about. I remember the moment that we met so clearly. She was dressed as apeasant but still seemed like a queen, long before I knew her true identity. I thought she was a simple handmaiden and I still loved her. I knew the moment that I saw her that she was the girl I would marry. As ridiculous as it seemed for a slave to be married to anyone at all."

The boy laughed with some self-deprecation at that. Palpatine was intrigued. He'd heard Anakin speak many times of Amidala, but never before had the boy admitted this juicy little bit of information. "A Jedi forewarning from the Force, do you think?"

Anakin nodded unhesitatingly. "I don't doubt it at all. It was as clear as the suns to me. I just **knew**."

Palpatine leaned back slightly in his seat, contemplating the implications. If it was indeed a true premonition from the Force that Anakin had traced, then it was a very odd one. The issue of a slave being allowed to marry was a moot point, as Anakin's destiny had inevitably freed him from the tyranny of the planet Tatooine. It had, however, merely delivered him into slavery of another sort, and one which the boy was rapidly coming to find intolerable. This vision of marriage would seem to indicate that at some point Anakin would seek to break free of the bonds of the Order entirely. The deciding factor, however, was if he would do so openly or subversively. Would the Jedi know? Anakin's training, career and future were bound up with the Order and Palpatine doubted that the boy would outright defy them yet. If the event were far enough in the future, however. . .Or perhaps he needed a nudge.

The Chancellor allowed that notion to simmer for a moment. Should he encourage Anakin's feelings for the Senator? It may work to his ultimate advantage, but the politician found himself oddly reluctant to pursue that avenue. He watched the boy closely, who seemed to be awaiting a response with an unaccustomed patience. Palpatine studied Anakin's face, the openfeatures, seeing the beauty that would emerge there when that face had matured. Anakin was not a shallow young man; the circumstances of his life story prevented that from ever being true of him. However, he was a very linear thinking individual, who saw what he wanted and strove for it. It was a singularly desirable quality for, say, a Sith Lord.

Palpatine leaned back further. Indecision was foreign to him. Why was he not offering some useful, subversive piece of advice at this very moment?

"I am not entirely sure of the nature of Jedi prophecy, Anakin. However, I am given to understand that these visions to which your Order is privy reveal glimpses of what may be, what could be, not necessarily what truly is."

"I know that, Chancellor, but I also know in my heart that this vision was true!"

Palpatine once more hesitated, knowing that he about to take a step out onto very uncertain ground. "Perhaps it is true because you wish it to be true."

Anakin was silent.

"What I am saying is that, this vision may be showing you a future that will occur if you strive to make it occur. You must, however, consider that in marrying the Senator, you would also be giving up your career."

Anakin nodded. "I know. I _know. _That's what makes it so hard, sir. I want to be a Jedi. I'm longing for the day when I can call myself a Knight. But I also have to admit that the future that I sensed for Padme and myself is one thatI _do _want."

Palpatine pursed his lips in lieu of grinding his teeth. Those were not words that he wanted to hear and he was forced to briefly examine his feelings of the matter. Yes, the girl's presence could possibly lure Anakin away from the Order, but it was a complication and an influence which he did not need. He had been working on the prize which was the Chosen One for ten years now. Was the solution, the method to possessing the boy, really so simple as an idealistic and pretty face?

Apparently so. Somehow it made all of his hard work and influence seem pathetic and absurd and he was irrationally angry with Anakin. He shielded his feelings well, however, outwardly still seeming the sympathetic elderly mentor.

"Tred very carefully, Anakin Skywalker," he warned softly. "It is a dangerous path that you are heading towards and now may be your last chance to reconsider."

"But, sir, is it not worth the danger to claim so great a reward?" Anakin smiled blissfully and the Chancellor briefly felt as though his heart had stopped. He stared at the Padawan for an inexcusably long time, seeing suddenly beyond his own plots and machinations to the boy that he had helped guide for ten years of his life. He saw the child that he had been and the man that he was slowly but surely becoming and felt unexpected pity. Anakin had never in his life been anything but a powerful pawn. First a means of making money for his owner on Tatooine and then a method of fulfilling prophecy to the Jedi, and finally a weapon to be claimed and wielded by the Sith. Palpatine was just as much to blame for the boy's lack of opportunity to ever have his own life and he felt not one bit guilty for it, but the Sith Master regularly interacted with beings who still felt compassion and he knew that if those same beings were fully informed of this boy's life, they would be appalled by the trap that Anakin lived every waking day. It was a passing fancy to Palpatine to briefly share the same pity.

"Yes, I dare say, my boy, that it is always worth the danger to claim a great reward. Be very sure, however, that you know that that reward is real. Are you fighting for a diamond or for fool's gold?"

Anakin's eyes narrowed angrily, taking offence on the absent Senator Amidala's behalf. "Padme isn't a fool."

_She is not the one I was referring to, _Palpatine thought quietly, but merely nodded in response.

Why not let the boy hear what he wanted to hear, now? He had sat patiently through the relevant arguments, after all, heeded Palpatine's word as much as he heeded anyone's. Sending him crashing into Amidala's arms would certainly help Palpatine's goals as much as anything, and may give the boy a few brief moments of pleasure in what promised to be a dark and lonely life. He may even be grateful to Palpatine for advising him in that direction, further binding the boy to the odd and fortuitous mentor that was the Surpreme Chancellor.

"No, she is not a fool, my boy, and I know it. I was merely encouraging you to consider all possible angles. If you are truly set on courting the Senator, however, then you have courage and daring—and my blessing, such as it is. If you ever need anyone to talk to about these efforts to win Senator Amidala's heart, you may always come to me."

Anakin blushed at that, smiling uncertainly and with a certain troubling lack of self confidence. He was trying to grow up too soon, this one, wanting so much to be a man, as all boys did, but he also knew just how young he still was and was angered by it. No, Anakin Skywalker could not yet possibly be of use to him at this point in time, but oddly enough he enjoyed the boy's visits and their talks for their own sake. Palpatine briefly wondered for how much longer they may have these conversations. Not a few years from now the boy may be a close ally or a doomed enemy, but either way they would not talk in this fashion, with this trusting openness, ever again.

"Thank you for your advice, sir, and the support. I will think about it—all of it."

"I do not doubt that you will," Palpatine smiled knowing. Undoubtedly the boy would mull over every bit of information the Chancellor had offered him and then do exactly what he had intended to do from the very beginning, in his own singular, bloody-minded fashion.

"Well, it's all philosophy for now, anyway. I mean, she hasn't seen me in ten years. She'll have to get to know me for who I am now."

"I have no doubt that she will grow to love you, if you are open to it," Palpatine responded and meant it. The boy had charisma, though it was not yet fully developed, hampered by his adolescent frustrations. He was powerful, intelligent, passionate and good looking. Which human woman could possibly resist that combination?

_Or which human man. . ?_

Palpatine grimaced and swallowed a sound of doubt. Was that what was bothering him here? The source behind his unexpected reluctance to push the boy towards the Amidala woman?

"I hope so, sir," Anakin responded to his last statement and Palpatine had to review the conversation to remember what it was that he had said, so strangely flustered had he become.

"No need to hope so, Anakin. I am sure of it. Now, I'm also sure that your master is wondering where it is that you could have run off to. I wouldn't want to get you in trouble by keeping you here any longer."

"Of course not, sir. Have a good day."

The boy stood with that strange, coltish grace and the Surpreme Chancellor felt very disturbed indeed by the bright smile that was directed at him, as trusting and powerful as sunlight.

"Good day, Anakin," he replied, tasting the beauty of the boy's unusual name as if for the first time.

He watched the Padawan leave with some mixed feelings. How odd to have developed such an attachment to the boy, but apparently it was the case. He wondered when it had happened, sometime between the child he had fed sweets to and the love-lorn romantic that had swept determinedly out of his office.

The thought that Skywalker should have been an actor occurred to him again. How much easier it would have been for the Jedi apprentice were he merely another player strutting across a grand stage, reciting lines that he didn't understand. This role that he now played, however, was as real as the stars in a drama that would shape the destiny of uncounted trillions upon trillions.

The playwright behind that drama laced his fingers together and turned his chair to the dipping Coruscant sun, watching the bloody shades and hues that made up the galaxy's capital. It was late, very late, and he suddenly felt as though time were speeding up. The play was progressing perhaps more quickly than even he knew. It did not, he decided, matter when he'd begun to care for the boy, when he'd begun to think of him as his own. Anakin would play the role that was written for him, and there was no room in that role to love the one authoring it.

The sun set slowly and Palpatine closed his eyes, seeing red heat dance behind his eyelids, wondering where the boy was now.


End file.
